Warren Buffett’s decision to invest $358 million in USAir preferred stock in 1989 is often referred to as one of the Oracle of Omaha’s biggest mistakes, even though it was anything but. Ultimately, Berkshire Hathaway’s investors didn’t lose anything from the trade, although it did lose out by not having the capital invested elsewhere. The figure of $358 million might not seem like much today, considering Berkshire has nearly $1 trillion of assets. Still, at the end of 1989, the group’s shareholder equity was only $5.7 billion (up from $3.7 billion in 1988). From that perspective, a potential loss of…
Lessons From Buffett’s Near-Disaster With USAir
Rupert Hargreaves
Sign up now and get our in-depth FREE e-books on famous investors like Klarman, Dalio, Schloss, Munger Rupert is a committed value investor and regularly writes and invests following the principles set out by Benjamin Graham. He is the editor and co-owner of Hidden Value Stocks, a quarterly investment newsletter aimed at institutional investors. Rupert owns shares in Berkshire Hathaway. Rupert holds qualifications from the Chartered Institute For Securities & Investment and the CFA Society of the UK. Rupert covers everything value investing for ValueWalk
